A new Daily Finance report confirms that a very healthy number of journalism students earning degrees from graduate programs at Columbia University and City University of New York are finding jobs in the j-field. “As bad as things are in the media industry, j-school grads are, far more often than not, finding jobs,” the report states. “And not as subway buskers or strip-club managers, but as reporters, editors and fact-checkers.”
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I promised good news soon, but I am hesitant to put this report in that category. I’d define it instead as ’at least it’s not sh*tty’ news. Let’s face it: The data is only for two j-schools (two schools located in the world’s media hub), only focused on grad. programs, and is self-reported by reps from the schools themselves. I’ve simply read and heard too many conflicting reports about the abysmal job prospects of fresh j-grads to really believe things are looking up overall. Additionally, the report admits this minor uptick may simply be due to the temporary openings left by older, higher-paid journos who were bought out so their work could be done by those willing to toil for much less.
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It does contain at least a hint of data though for an interesting follow-up question: Could grad school be the silver bullet for obtaining j-jobs in a bleak economy? Someone needs to buttress this report with a sampling of the employment success rates of those enrolled in j-master’s programs worldwide!
